Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 of German Application No. 198 57 378.2 filed Dec. 12, 1998. Applicant also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7120 of PCT/DE99/03887 filed Dec. 12, 1998. The international application under PCT article 21(2) was not published in English.
A hydraulic actuation device for moving holder jaws arranged at intervals for rocket launching tubes is known from DE 32 28 655 C2. This known actuation device is a closed hydraulic circuit without a pressure tank unit. The actuation is realised manually using a lever on the transmitter cylinder of the hydraulic circuit. The transmitter cylinder is located inside an armoured vehicle and connected hydraulically with a working cylinder outside the vehicle, the piston of which in turn works the holder jaws with a rod. The actuation of the transmitter cylinder through a lever has ergonomic disadvantages and is restricted in resolution and power amplification.
The object of the invention is to create a cost-effective hydraulic manipulator with an ergonomic handling and a good transmission behaviour.
The manipulator, according to the invention, uses a rotary drive movement, which offers ergonomic advantages with respect to the achievable precision of movement and transmission of force to the output drive of the manipulator, particularly if high forces and very precise movements are required in the output. Some examples of such requirements are a vehicle steering, a ship control wheel, a hand wheel for adjusting a machine tool slide, a car jack, a cable winch, a rotary knob for angle adjustment to a theodolite or a telescope, a gas control rotary handle on a motorcycle or a volume control knob on the radio.
Other advantages of the manipulator according to the invention are that with a suitable selection of components, it is possible to keep the space requirement, the weight and the manufacturing costs low. The transmission of the manipulator can be realised through its design to be anything and can even take on large values, which make it possible to achieve higher positioning precision and greater working forces. Instead of manual exertion of the driving movements, an electrical motor can also be used, which can for example be connected directly to the drive shaft of the manipulator without an intermediate gearbox.